Our picks from Cannes 2023
Shortly before the beginning of the Cannes Film Festival, let’s present the films that we find most captivating, hoping that one of them will win the Palme d’Or. As is the case every year, twenty films will compete in the main competition, so we have picked five of them.
La chimera
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Previous work: Lazzaro felice (2018), Le meraviglie (2014)
Duration: 2h 10 min Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Italy, France, Switzerland
Cast: Isabella Rossellini, Josh O’Connor, Alba Rohrwacher
Plot: Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth. For Arthur ( Josh O’Connor ), A young British archeologist, the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina. To find her, Arthur challenges the invisible, searches everywhere, goes inside the earth – in search of the door to the afterlife of which myths speak.
Why it might be interesting: Because the plot appeared to be the most intriguing in the competition.
Club Zero
Director: Jessica Hausner
Previous work: Little Joe (2019), Lourdes (2009)
Duration: 1h 50 min Genre: Thriller, Drama
Country: United Kingdom, France, Austria, Denmark
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Sidse Babett Knudsen
Plot: Miss Novak joins the staff of an international boarding school to teach a conscious eating class. She instructs that eating less is healthy. The other teachers are slow to notice what is happening and by the time the distracted parents begin to realise, Club Zero has become a reality..
Why it might be interesting: Because “Little Joe” (2019) was very descent and Jessica Hausner has a talent for getting her actors to take their performances to the next level. In fact, Emily Beecham won the Best Actress award in Cannes for her role in “Little Joe”.
May December
Director: Todd Haynes
Previous work: Dark Waters (2019), Carol (2015)
Duration: 1h 53 min Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: United States
Cast: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore
Plot: Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.
Why it might be interesting: To watch the collaboration between Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore.
Kaibutsu (a.k.a. Monster)
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Previous work: Shoplifters (2018), The Third Murder (2017)
Duration: 2h 06 min Genre: Drama
Country: Japan
Cast: Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama
Plot: When her young son Minato starts to behave strangely, his mother feels that there is something wrong. Discovering that a teacher is responsible, she storms into the school demanding to know what’s going on. But as the story unfolds through the eyes of mother, teacher and child, the truth gradually emerges
Why it might be interesting: Because Hirokazu Kore-eda has already won the competition Japanese cinema has a reputation for delivering unexpected and thought-provoking stories.
Anatomie d’une chute (a.k.a. Anatomy of a Fall)
Director: Justine Triet
Previous work: Sibyl (2018), Victoria (2016)
Duration: 2h 30 min Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: France
Plot: Sandra, a German writer, is arrested for murder following her husband’s death in the snow under mysterious circumstances and tries to prove her innocence during the trial when their blind son is the sole witness.
Why it might be interesting: It seems that “Anatomie d’une chute” is a strong trial drama.
Other movies include: the return of Aki Kaurismäki with the comedy drama “Fallen Leaves“, Ken Loach’s “The Old Oak” and Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City“.
The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival will take place from 16 to 27 May,
Pictures and parts of the plots have been taken from the official site of Cannes Festival.
Films So Good 